EU must act on Venice Commission's condemnation of Hungary on fundamental rights

Today the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe published its opinions on judicial independence and religious freedom in Hungary which confirm once again the ALDE group's concerns over the compatibility of the controversial laws recently adopted in Hungary with common European values of freedom and democracy.

'"PM Orban might defend his government's right to decide but freedom also means respect for fundamental rights, like the right to a fair trail. A right that according to the Venice Commission is not sufficiently guaranteed in Hungary. The Government can try to play with the EU institutions but today's report from the Council of Europe is extra proof that the Hungarian Government is taking away rights and freedoms from its citizens as we have consistently claimed", said ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt, commenting on the Venice commission's opinion on the legal status and remuneration of judges and on the organisation and administration of courts.

Moreover, by referring to PM Orban's speech given last week during the Hungarian national day celebration, Verhofstadt concluded: "How can Orban believe that we will take seriously his commitments to the EU to change things if at home he publically slings mud at us, and at the democratic values the EU represents?".

"A political party that imposes new cardinal laws that do not guarantee 'the right to freedom of thought' or the right to freedom of 'conviction' cannot seriously speak of foreigners' dictatorship over Hungarian independence and freedom. It is hypocritical," said  Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) ALDE coordinator in the Civil liberties committee (LIBE) by commenting the Venice Commission's opinion on the right of freedom of conscience and religion and the legal status of churches, denominations and religious communities.

"The European Commission must take on board the Venice Commission's opinions and its broad analysis of the real situation in Hungary. How many reports and opinions do we still need to prove what we have been known already for a long time, namely in Hungary we face a breach of Articles 2 and 4 of the Treaty dealing with basic principles and values?"